1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an anaesthesia apparatus of the type having a manual ventilation bag, a mechanical ventilator, and a user interface for selecting an operating mode of the apparatus.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Anaesthesia apparatuses generally are designed to operate in many different operating modes. Two of these are manual ventilation, in which the anaesthetist controls/supports the breathing of a patient by means of a manual ventilation bag, and mechanical ventilation, in which the breathing of the patient is controlled/supported by means of a mechanical ventilator (the mechanical ventilation may itself be divided in to a number of sub-modes such as pressure regulation, volume regulation, etc.).
The set-up of an operating mode generally is done via a user interface (which itself may include several components located at different parts of the anaesthetic device). Parametric values for the different operating modes also may be entered via the user interface.
During manual ventilation the operator usually is located close to the patient and with one hand can control a facemask on the patient and with the other controls the manual ventilation bag. This usually occurs during the course of administering the anaesthetic.
A problem with this conventional technique is that in order to make changes to the entered parameters, the anesthesiologist is forced to divert his or her attention from the patient during the time it takes to make the changes via the user interface.